A Camp Christmas
by BornAsTheSeventhMonthDies
Summary: This involves Nico listening to Taylor Swift so you should read it. -Dee (for the Querencia forum Quarter Quell)


**Hey guys! Here's my entry for Round One of the Querencia Quarter Quell!**

 **Oh, yeah, Querencia. A fantastic forum or fellowship filled with fun, festive folk who fraternize over fanfics and fill their minds with fantasies. If you're a decent person who doesn't write trash or crack!fics, come on over and join up. The lovely moderators would love to have you.**

 **Anyway.**

 **I must say, first, before you read: don't get excited. It's not nearly as good as most of my other stories (and if you know me… that's not good at all XD).**

 **Another thing: this was massively hard for me to write. We were given prompts, of course, and three of the five I happened to pick were just about impossible for me to write. One of the first drafts I wrote up was a saga about how Kronos had possessed Chiron and forced a team of demigods into a death trap, from which they fought their way across countries, receiving the aid of all the children of the Big Three, which was Kronos' plan all along: get the most powerful demigods out of the way so he can take back his scythe and overthrow the gods.**

 **Whew.**

 **Yes, I will publish that later. But not now, because it got too long and too many sticky plot points which I'll need to sand down.**

 **For now… you're stuck with this.**

* * *

It was winter in Camp Half-Blood.

Nearing Christmas, the air, usually clear and bright, was loosely tinged with gray from the mists that crept in over the lake. A fog, dark and mysterious.

None of the campers could really be called Christians, children of gods of the Ancient Greek pantheon as they were. But there were still plenty of decorations to be seen, strings of lights lining the roofs, green and red wreaths adorning the doors of cabins, pine trees which had moved closer to camp from the forest. Chiron was wearing sweaters. Nasty knit Christmas sweaters, which, he insisted, were finest quality. Mr. D… well, Mr. D wore his interminable lineup of Hawaiian print shirts, as usual.

Snowfall was weak. Although Chiron had removed the weather restrictions on Camp, allowing snow clouds to gather above them, few enough snowflakes really reached the ground. The few that did were instantly absorbed into the ground, feeding dormant plants in a way the snow-hungry campers did not appreciate.

* * *

'Percy Jackson.'

The black-haired, green-eyed, offensively orange shirted young man in the back of the room stood up. 'Yeah. Here.'

The barista handed him the plastic cup filled with sugar and caffeine. 'Here.'

Percy nodded and grabbed a straw. He ripped off the end of the paper with his teeth and stuck the straw into the drink. Took a draw.

He walked out. New York. He'd been living there since birth, his mom working at the candy shop across the street until only a few years ago. His apartment was only a few blocks away, and his girlfriend designed architecture on the six hundredth floor of the Empire State.

The city had never felt less like home.

Mid-winter? The snowfall was gray and unwell, the few flakes that made it to the ground filled with the smog of millions of people in square miles. Slush underfoot, angry clouds overhead. The smells of mingled cigarette smoke, car fumes, and bad Chinese food.

Percy wanted to go to Camp.

Camp Half-Blood in the winter was nice. Sharply cold, fresh, outdoorsy. A lot of people who didn't always look like they were going to rob you or you them.

He sighed and took another pull at his frappe, realizing too late that he had in fact ordered a frappuccino in the middle of the winter without having any decent form of clothing. He buttoned his jacket, but it was thin and really only seemed to invite the wind that now blew through the clogged streets.

'Christmas,' he mumbled. 'Christmastime.'

His mom was atheist. Paul was… he didn't really know what Paul was, really. Estella was a baby. And he was a pagan, technically.

'Why am I buying Christmas decorations?' he grumbled to himself.

He stopped at a crosswalk. Traffic in New York was, of course, insane. Especially now that it was nearing Christmas. 'Where is everyone?' he wondered aloud.

He hadn't seen any of the seven for months. Other than Annabeth, he hadn't seen anyone for five months, and he wished he had thought to invite some of them to celebrate Christmas (again, not that any of them cared, but it was a good excuse).

He wanted to go to Camp.

Chiron no longer felt that he, Percy, needed to return to Camp for the summer. He had grown up enough that, as Chiron rather densely put it, his godly education, physical, moral, and mental, was no longer necessitated to such a degree that his return to Camp Half-Blood was urgent.

So he was out in the cold, with a frappe, buying Christmas stuff for his non-Christian household.

Great.

* * *

'Merry Christmas!' Will Solace shouted out the door of his cabin. A bitter cold wind shot through the doorway and into the room, as if in answer to his greeting. He slammed the door shut.

'Why is it so cold,' he asked the empty room. All of his siblings had left camp at the end of the summer, and so he had the cabin to himself.

Merry Christmas. Right.

He put on one of the Camp Half-Blood t-shirts Chiron insisted campers wear, and laced his shoes. Very slowly.

'Deck the halls with…' he started, and just as suddenly trailed off. It was too cold to sing Christmas songs. Way too cold.

'Why don't we have heaters?' he grumbled. The cabins were enchanted to stay at a certain temperature, which everyone agreed was too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter. An adjustable thermostat would have been nice. Just like an indoor bathroom would have been nice. But no. Chiron, in his wisdom, had decided he would put the goddamn bathrooms outside the cabins.

He put on a sweater, satisfactorily covering the shirt, and spun a yellow scarf around his neck. There was nothing wrong with yellow. Yellow was a great color.

As soon as he stepped outside, he instantly regretted waking up this early. Still no snow. Cold, but no snow.

He ducked back inside the cabin and grabbed a pair of gloves.

* * *

Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, lord of ghosts, was asleep.

Soundly.

The temperature in his cabin had irritated him enough that he had installed a heater for himself, using his father's inexhaustible wealth. The heat it provided kept him drowsy for four hours of the day, and asleep the other twenty.

Perfect.

A bang on his door roused him. 'Who… what?' he moaned, and checked the time. Nine forty-six.

'Fuck off!' he yelled, wondering whether it was Chiron. If it was, he should probably mention how bad the cabins' heating system was. 'Are you Chiron?'

'No,' he heard.

'Who are you?'

'Will Solace, head counselor for the Apollo cabin,' the voice answered. 'Wake up.'

'Fuck off!' he repeated. He looked at the time again, just to make sure he hadn't been wrong. Nine forty-seven. 'Why did you… gah. Why did you wake me up?'

'You need to eat.'

'What are you, my doctor?' He regretted the words as soon as he said them, because, of course, Will _was_ his doctor and he knew it.

'Yes.'

'Go away.'

'I swear I will break down this door.'

Nico lay back. The door was literally unbreakable. 'You can't.'

'Then I'll…'

Nico waited, but after about ten seconds he bit. 'You'll what?'

'Don't make me do this to you, Nico.'

'What?'

In answer, Nico got the sound of Taylor Swift coming from an iPhone pressed against the door. Loud and clear. ' _My castle crumbled overnight… I brought a knife to a gunfight…They took the crown but it's alright…'_

Nico waved his hand. The door swung open. Will grinned, killed the app, and walked in.

'Gods, it's nice in here,' he said. 'Did you buy a heater?'

'Yeah. The heating system was trash.'

'That's what I was _just saying_.' Will grabbed Nico's arm and pulled him up into a sitting position. 'Oh.' Because of course Nico slept shirtless. 'Are… are you wearing anything?'

'No,' Nico groaned, and dropped back into his bed, yanking the covers up around his head. 'Go away.'

'Well… can you… fine.' Will sighed and walked to the door. 'Here's Swift for you.'

He closed the door, setting the iPhone to full blast and leaning it against the wall of the cabin. Nico could still hear her singing away.

He got out of bed. Dressed. Walked outside. 'There. Let's go.'

* * *

Will put his arm over Nico's shoulders (a move that Nico in no way reciprocated) and led him in the general direction of the dining pavilion.

'Campers,' Chiron called across the dining pavilion. 'Your attention please.'

As heads turned towards him, he continued. 'Some of you, early risers perhaps, may have noticed that our canoe lake's water level is lower than normal.'

Surprised and confused muttering.

'The lake naiads are… understandably concerned. I believe one of their requests was that no one go near the lake while it is in its current condition?' He glanced towards Mr. D, but received no response. 'Indeed. So I am asking all of you, in consideration for the naiads' behest, to avoid the canoe lake. Not as the plague, but please do not enter the water or in any way… touch it, I suppose. All activities relating to the lake are transferred to either double weapons training or forge. Thank you.'

He took his seat, or rather, stepped back, as he didn't sit while in his horse form.

'The lake's draining,' Nico said. 'Is that even possible?'

'Apparently,' Will answered. 'Maybe… Percy Jackson would know?'

Nico shot him a look, but Will's statement seemed sincere. 'Maybe. I guess Chiron'll ask him, connected to water as he is.' He shrugged and took one of the magically refilling plates.

By the next day, the lake was dry.

* * *

'But where will the naiads go?' Percy asked Chiron, through IM. His mother refused to let him visit Camp, on the grounds that he would get caught up in something and miss Christmas.

'The naiads will be relocated to the river,' Chiron said. 'As this is, hopefully, only temporary, we have created a makeshift series of inlets for them to rest in and to which they can move their life sources.'

'That's not good, though.'

'Certainly not.'

Percy sat down hard on his bed. 'Is there any way I could help?'

Chiron smiled, understanding. 'Don't worry, Percy. We have everything under control. And I doubt your mother would readily agree to the proposition, no matter how much we needed your help.'

He stood. 'Well, farewell, Percy.' He nodded and ended the message.

* * *

'Mom!' Percy said. He walked into the living room, where she was wrapping some package for Paul. 'Mom, I need to go to Camp. The naiads need me.'

She looked up slowly. 'I'm sorry, _what_?'

He realized that was not the best way to frame his request. He tried again. 'Mom, the lake at Camp is draining. I have to go help?'

'Did Chiron say he needed you over there?'

Percy huffed. 'Well, no… But I could help! Come on, Mom, you know how my powers would be useful. Please, Mom. It'll only be for a little. I'm just going to find the leak in the lake, refill it, and I'll be back.'

'Just how big is this lake, anyway?' Sally asked, looking up again.

* * *

The Camp was summoned to the dining pavilion.

'Campers,' Chiron announced, his magically augmented voice ringing through the crisply cold air. 'I regret to inform you all that your activities are canceled as of today. The emergency with the lake, and the now-homeless naiads, have caused a slight change of plans that I hope will be beneficial, in some part, to all.

'I am announcing a new pseudo-activity,' he went on. 'For today, we will be searching the lakebed, trying to find some reason for the mysterious leak or drainage. Waterproof shoes will be provided – at no charge – from the camp store. We begin in half an hour. Ask your head counselor for more information. Thank you.'

Although the sudden change and strange task was surprising, the campers mainly didn't complain. It was cold, yes, but an hour or so of exercise on the dry lakebed was sure to be interesting. Some campers remembered items they had lost to the water and never found, and they wondered if they would retrieve them now.

* * *

Chiron motioned for the head counselors to bring their campers into the lake bed.

As the various demigods filed into the still-muddy lake bed, the chattering grew and the surprised shouts of discovery filled the misty air.

'My charm bracelet!' one child of Hecate called from beneath the now twelve-foot-tall dock. 'Look!'

And proceeded to charm random puddles of water into sparkling showers of gold.

Lost items were discovered, relics of the campers of ages past.

And nowhere was a leak found.

A child of Demeter caused some excitement when she found that there was, in fact, a hole at the bottom of the lake. But the hole was shallow, only a few feet deep.

The search continued.

* * *

' _It's the most wonderful time of the year,_ ' Percy's car's radio sang as he made his way through the congested New York streets, windows up and heater on.

Sally had given him permission. Terms: that he would return in an hour. That he wouldn't die, get injured, or in any way put himself at risk. That he would not start the apocalypse.

And with that she had kissed him and let him go, sighing that he was getting older and she guessed he needed to make his own decisions.

He neared Camp.

No matter how many times he'd seen or lived in Camp Half-Blood, the sight of the hill, topped by a massive pine tree, always gave him chills of excitement. No less so when he pulled into the gravel parking lot at the edge of camp, so heavily guarded by Mist that the few mortals who did pull in with an empty tank immediately found it full and themselves wondering why they had stopped at all.

He jumped out of the car.

The cold, moist air made him gasp. Inlaid with the most miniscule droplets of water, the air was, of course, cold. But it was more than that. The faint scent of tilled ground, the overlying aura of pines and wilderness, and the yellow lights in the cabin windows meant home. To him. At least, and the campers who lived here.

The lake was empty. The naiads would be hurting.

* * *

Will nudged Nico, who had reluctantly agreed to participate. 'Hey, friend. Look at this.'

Nico glanced at what Will was holding. A golden, elongated triangle. Rounded edges.

'What is it?'

'A pick,' Will said, grinning. 'A real guitar pick. Created by Apollo himself for his kids at camp. Although, I'm not sure he knew that that was what he was doing it for at the time, but…' He rubbed the pick. 'This is special.'

Nico shrugged. 'Cool.'

'Do you play?'

To Nico, the question was so random that he had to mentally double take to understand Will's meaning. 'What?'

'Do you play. Guitar.'

'Uh… no. Definitely not.'

'Cool! I can teach you!'

Will's enthusiasm was obvious enough that Nico didn't have the heart to tell him he would probably kill whoever listened to his music. 'Maybe.'

Will poked through the mud at his feet. 'So… are you okay?'

Nico raised an eyebrow. 'Why do you ask?'

'You seem quiet.'

'I am quiet. That's part of my personality.'

Will smiled once, and pointed at something on the ground. 'What's that? Oh…'

It was what looked like a manhole cover. 'Why would there be a manhole cover under the lake?' Nico asked. 'Wait a sec…'

They looked at the disc of metal.

'Chiron!' Will called. 'Chiron, I think we've found something!'

Nearby head counselors passed on the message, and moments later Chiron came trotting across the lakebed. 'Well, well, well,' he said, looking at the cover with some surprise. 'It looks like you have found the source of the problem, Mr. Solace. Well done.'

Four massive Ares campers heaved the metal circle into the air and away from whatever it covered.

Chiron looked down. 'Goodness,' he said.

A carefully designed tunnel led straight down, a rung ladder built into the side. At the bottom of the ladder stood a soggy, unlit torch, and across from the torch was clearly a passageway.

'Well,' Chiron said, at a loss. 'Counselors, could you please return your campers to their cabins? The trouble is over. We'll have our lake back soon enough. Thank you all.'

The campers straggled off, their counselors directing them to their respective cabins. Will stayed, his oldest younger sister Kayla leading.

'Chiron,' he said. 'Can I check it out?' He had heard old stories about secret passageways under the camp, ancient items stored away in case of emergencies. Although he had never found any trace of such a network, he was always eager to try and find them.

Chiron frowned. 'I'm not at all sure that that is the best procedure, Will,' he said. 'We have no idea what's down there.'

'I'll take Nico.'

Nico shrugged. 'That's fine.'

Chiron looked pained. 'Mr. di Angelo… there's certainly no need for such prompt action. Of course, we will explore this new development… Just perhaps not now.'

Nico smiled. 'Oh, don't worry,' he said. 'We'll do it right away. It's no bother.'

Chiron gulped. 'Ah… certainly. If you so desire.'

Will patted Nico on the shoulder gratefully and began to descend the rung ladder. When he reached the bottom, Nico saluted Chiron and lowered himself down after Will.

* * *

Will pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and examined the walls. They were solid, smooth stone, with little to look at or get excited about.

The passageway was something else. As they entered the passage and Will shone his light on its sides, they found markings, like graffiti but with purpose. _Two straight, one left, and up is pavilion,_ someone had scribbled on the wall, using a thin paintbrush and green paint. Someone else had used a thick Sharpie to write _Two left and straight up is forge._

'What is all this?' Will wondered aloud.

'Well, at a guess, I would say it's ink,' Nico said, an eyebrow raised. 'What else?'

Will elbowed him. 'I mean the writing. What does it mean?'

'It means that if you take two left turns and pass another intersection – straight – you'll come out near the forge.'

'But how is that possible? We've never found anything like a hatch in camp. People have been living here for twenty years who haven't found anything. Not even Chiron knew.'

'Maybe he did know. Or maybe these campers have been hiding their existence for a while. I imagine it wouldn't be impossible to keep secrets from Chiron.'

Will gave him a look. 'Maybe. I wonder where these passageways lead? Obviously through the camp,' he added, seeing Nico about to make another sarcastic comment. 'But I mean, how extensively? Could we find all the hatches and use them to get from place to place…'

'Why not just walk?' Nico asked. 'Why did you want to come down here, again?'

Will shrugged. 'I'd heard that these passages exist. I wanted to see where they lead.'

'Well, we can come back later,' Nico said, glancing at the walls. 'I think we have trouble.'

Will froze. 'What do you mean?'

Nico laughed. 'Your face… No, Chiron's calling us. I can hear him. We better head back.'

They ran to the exit, climbed the ladder, and told Chiron what they'd found.

Untruthfully, of course. Chiron learned that they'd found what looked like a bunker, as if Bunker Nine had been downsized. It was empty.

Chiron doubted the story, of course. But he couldn't go down himself, and no one else was willing to go down and check it out. So he sent them off, and made his way up to the Big House.

Where he was accosted by a very worried Percy Jackson.

* * *

'Nico,' Will hissed. 'Let's go back.'

'No.'

'Come on. Now's the perfect time. We could see if there's a tunnel leading between our cabins.'

Nico rolled over to face Will. 'And why the bloody hell would we want a tunnel leading between out cabins?'

They were in the dining pavilion. Will had insisted they eat a proper breakfast, and Nico had lain down on one of the empty benches and declared he was going to sleep.

Will blushed. Slightly. 'Well… if not that, then we could just explore. See if anyone left interesting stuff down there. Weapons. Skeletons. Magical artifacts that blow people's heads off.'

'Whose head do you want to blow off?' Nico asked, mildly interested.

'Anyone who annoys me.'

'A bit harsh, no?'

Will took a bite of toast. 'But can we go?'

'You certainly can.'

'You too.'

Nico groaned and sat up. 'My head is killing me.'

Will put a hand on Nico's forehead. 'Gods, you're hot.'

Nico jerked away and put his own hand to his head, then his neck. 'Really? What? Do you think I'm getting sick? How can you tell?' He paused. 'What?'

Will grinned. 'Of course you're hot. Just look at yourself.'

Nico half-punched him in the arm. 'Fine. Let's go.'

'Now?'

Nico touched him on the arm and they shadowtraveled away.

* * *

They appeared on the edge of the hole. Will retched and dropped to his knees. 'That is horrible.'

Nico shrugged. 'It's better than walking.'

'It is _not_.'

Will leaned over the edge of the hole. 'You think Chiron sent anyone down here after us?'

'If he did I'll knock them out.'

'Nico…'

'Just put them to sleep. Peacefully. It's a son of Hades thing.'

'You have a lot of those.' Will swung himself down, pulling his flashlight out of his pocket. 'Let's go.'

They walked off down the tunnel.

* * *

'Yes, yes, yes,' Chiron said. 'Please, calm yourself, Mr. Jackson. Everything is under control. We've found the source of the leak, and are ready to seal it. It's an entrance to a passageway under the lake; Will Solace and Nico di Angelo examined it and found it empty.'

'We have to replace the water, fast,' Percy said. 'Let's go. I can do it… Lift the water from the ocean and put it back into the lake. We're all good.'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course.'

Chiron led him towards the lake. 'The hatch will be cemented shut. Then, as you say, you will be able to replace the water?'

'It should be easy. What happened to the river, anyway?'

'Its source is frozen, as it always is during the winter. Normally the water is still and the naiads sleepy, but now…'

'I get it. I'll replace the water, then when the ice melts upstream it'll do the job naturally.'

'Indeed.'

They stopped at the edge of the lake. Percy choked. 'Gods…'

Chiron motioned to a pair of campers. They hefted a bucket of cement and walked down to the hatch.

'Close it up,' Chiron said. 'Percy?'

'Ready.'

The pair of campers slammed the cover shut, poured the liquid cement on top, and patted it in. Then they ran back to where Percy and Chiron were standing.

'Very well, Percy. If you would…?'

Percy closed his eyes. Lifted his hands.

A massive column of water, twisting and writhing like a huge snake, shot from the ocean, half a mile away.

Percy curled his fingers. The waterspout flew through the air, a pipeline from the ocean to the lakebed. He opened his hands, and the water, thousands of cubic feet of it, slammed down onto the dry lakebed.

'I've left the salt in the ocean,' Percy said, eyes still closed. 'That water's fresh. Gods, that was tiring.'

He opened his eyes. 'Wow. Okay. Lake's back.'

It was indeed. Full, sparkling water, as yet untouched by the frost of the winter season. Already, the joyous forms of the naiads, half-liquid in their excitement, were leaping into the water from the mossy mouth of the river.

'Thank you, Percy,' Chiron said, relieved. 'That was extremely worrying, to myself and the water spirits. I'm sure your father would have had harsh words with me had any of the naiads come to harm through this accident.'

Percy nodded his acceptance of Chiron's thanks. 'You're welcome.'

* * *

Underneath the now-full lake, Will and Nico were still inspecting the various catacombs.

'I'm worried we'll get lost,' Will had said early on, and had made Nico cut gashes in the walls to indicate where they had been.

Now, as they trekked on, Will wondered when they would find any interesting outlets. They had checked out the 'forge' and 'pavilion' directions to the hatches, and had in fact found multiple metal covers like the one under the lake, but they had been either solidly rusted shut, buried under tons of rock and dirt, or behind a collapsed section of the tunnels. At each, a splash of paint had informed them, 'Unusable'.

'Maybe we should turn back,' Nico said for the fourth time. 'We haven't found much so far.'

They had actually found some interesting items, one of which was a Stygian Ice whistle, and another of which was a bag of rusty old golden drachmas.

'Come on,' Will urged him. 'This isn't too bad, right?'

And then let out a small shriek (which Nico didn't let him live down for weeks) as he put a foot through a disintegrating skull.

Nico stared, uninterestedly, at the skeleton. 'He's been dead for a while,' he commented. 'Decades, I think.'

'That's certainly comforting,' Will muttered. 'You're right, let's go.'

'No,' Nico said, for the first time showing a bit of interest. 'Let's find out why he died.'

He knelt by the skeleton and inspected it. 'Yeah, definitely dead for several decades. No broken bones or anything like that, so no bone-cracking violence to the body… He could have broken his skull, but we'll never know now.'

He looked around. They were at the corner of two intersecting passages. The four resulting tunnels went straight on for as far as their meager light shone.

'He must have died of natural causes,' he announced finally. 'Starvation. Oxygen deprivation, though that's unlikely. He could have died of thirst. Not a good way to go.'

He looked back at Will. 'Let's go. Before we join him. I've got a bad feeling about this.'

They hurried back along the passage, following the marks on the wall that Nico had carved with his Stygian Iron.

And arrived at what had been their exit.

'Why… why's it closed?' Will asked, a tremor in his voice already. 'I'll… go open it.'

He leaped up the ladder and pushed against the cover.

Of course, it didn't budge.

'Nico!' he said. 'Nico… the cover…'

'The lake's back…' Nico murmured, mostly to himself. 'I can feel the life of the naiads… somehow they've even brought fish.'

Will almost fell back down the ladder.

'And I can sense… somehow…' Nico continued. 'An anticlimactic conflict resolution…'

'What are you saying?' Will yelled, grabbing his shoulders. Nico smiled.

And of course, in a swirl of shadow, he shadowtraveled them to just outside Will's cabin.

* * *

 **Yeah. That's it.**

 **I'm sorry. I really am. Like likefiring, who tells us that she considers her fic to be one of the worst she's written, I am of the firm belief that if this is not the worst I can do, it's pretty close.**

 **But: it's for the contest. And, of course, one must always adhere to the provided writing prompts, no matter how much one wishes one had not chosen said prompts.**

 **Yeesh.**

 **Anyway. For da WIN! And no, I'm not expecting to make it into the semifinals, much less win the Quarter Quell… but I do hope I make it to the next round.**

 **Because, with a screenwriter for a father, and a writer for a mother, and two uncles, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather who've all published things… it would be massively embarrassing to fail this.**

 **Haha. Just kidding. I don't really care. *sob sob* Crush my hopes and dreams all you like, Di. Heartless moderator that you are… No, seriously, she's great. I love all the people at Querencia, they're all amazing. You should really go check them out.**

 **On a more personal note: the holidays have been chaotic, to say the least. To add to that, I've started taking classes with Biola (to the few of you who know what that is) and they're giving me an assload of homework. Literally as much as most college students. And I'm a freshman.**

 **But anyway, I do have stories planned, and will be publishing soon. Look for me! Fav! Follow! Review!**

 **Farewell, my good people!**


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